Many Helpful Intentions
by KkGgINoU
Summary: Certainly do not equate to actually helping, as Loki knows all too well. Loki intends to help others. He really does. He wants to help his brother learn the qualities of a good king, while keeping an incompetent prince off the throne. He wants to eliminate an age-old threat. He wants to make his father proud. But things don't really seem to go his way. 2nd chapter Avengers themed.
1. Chapter 1

There is a great difference between helpful intentions, and actually being helpful.

And it wasn't as if Loki meant to start a war, or anything.

It was just his nature.

He was by nature a tactician. Thor... well, Thor was not.

Loki thrived on careful planning-if things went awry, then you should have thought up a more expansive variety of possible alternative outcomes. Which was far too many words for his brother's tastes.

Loki spent his days reading. His brother spent his days gallivanting all about Asgard, making an utter fool of himself, if Loki did say so himself.

Because of his heightened interest and ability in the magic arts, Loki had never felt as though he had a place in Asgard. Everyone was so very different from him, and at times even Asgardians could be unreasonably prejudiced.

He couldn't physically live up to Thor's standard. Naturally, everyone thought him cowardly, weak, and more than just slightly effeminate. Admittedly, he did little to prevent such misgivings. He knew he couldn't force them to understand. Not that the average Asgardian did very much of that anyways.

He still tried. He always was trying to live up to Thor's standard. Always trying to make Odin proud. But he couldn't seem to do any of that. He could never make Odin proud like Thor could, because he was different by nature. Loki was not a fighter.

He was a diplomat- a politician (which did actually fit his charge description quite well- Mischief, Lies, Trickery- it was quite obvious, wasn't it?). He preferred to fight with carefully chosen words rather than brute strength. The Midgardians had always claimed that the pen was far mightier than the sword. And, in Loki's case, it was very true.

A carefully chosen word could make peace. It could also get under the skin of just about anyone, and nearly start a war between all nine Realms.

Let it further be known that the "Deaf-Blind Heimdall Incident" wasn't his fault. Not entirely, anyways.

The only reason that the "Deaf-Blind Heimdall Incident" even happened was because, as stated before, having helpful intentions do NOT equate to actually helping.

He always had good intentions. Helpful ones.

His brother was an incompetent prince, and would be an even more inadequate king. He let the Frost Giants in to prove that to Odin. Merriment was a factor, incidentally...but not that much.

No one else had even thought to tell anyone that they were going to Jotunheim. He did, because he knew that they were walking into doom and destruction.

Who else wouldn't want to know of their origins? He touched the Casket only as an experiment.

He wanted peace just as much as anyone. After his father told him of the original purpose behind his adoption, he targeted the one whom he thought would be the greatest threat to a lasting peace. It happened to be his birth father.

He kept Thor on Midgard and sent the Destroyer down to give Thor a chance to prove himself an able king- humble and sacrificial. Loki knew that he himself would never be able to truly be a good king for Asgard. Too many idiots in one place to control. For the foreseeable future, anyways.

He did it for them. He did it for Odin. There was the 'proving himself' aspect, but nevertheless. He had always kept good intentions, even if he was forced to work in Thor's shadow, and even if some of his methods were slightly more than just mildly questionable. Admittedly, they usually were.

And yet, even if he kept good intentions, they were always just... Helpful intentions. Not actually Helpful.

The attack from the Frost Giants during Thor's Coronation day nearly resulted in an all-out war.

Odin's discovery that they had gone off to Jotunheim led to Thor's banishment.

Loki made his father go into Odinsleep when he lost his temper. Let it be known to all that he had never intended to say those horrible things to Odin. They sort of just tumbled out before he could stop them. It was instinctive. Careless. He knew that careless words could wreak untold havoc. Of course, his careless words usually did.

Assassinating Laufey meant that he would be an outcast among his blood brethren.

Clearly in retrospect freezing poor Heimdall wasn't a good idea. He conceded that it was most definitely one of the worst of his available options. Of course, slaying Heimdall outright wouldn't have been the brightest idea he'd had either, and it was high on the list of potential options. It had caused a cascading failure in his entire plan to get Thor back ( _without_ all the sheer idiocy the prince had possessed before).

Thor had proved himself, but then- things just didn't turn out the way that Loki would have hoped. He had made an effort to provide a quiet, normal transfer of power from the regent to the up-and-coming king. And things weren't ready when Thor had arrived. Jotunheim wasn't vanquished. War was eminent. Laufey had only just been defeated. Odin was (STILL!) not awake. Things were most definitely NOT ready.

Naturally, they misjudged his intentions as mischief, as they always did. They believed that it hadn't been for the good of Asgard. That he had been self-seeking and power hungry. Granted, as a prince, he had expected at least some recognition as a prince. But it had all been for Asgard. For Thor. For Odin. For everyone he knew and cared about.

And it didn't work. Again. Just as all of his other schemes and plans to gain his father's favor. It was not planned quite well enough. He could have turned Odin's spear on himself for his lack of foresight.

He remembered exactly what had transpired. He remembered exactly the reward he received for his helpful intentions.

He dangled over the precipice of the bridge, and he pleaded with his father.

He had seized the throne, likely unlawfully, making him something of a criminal. He had (for all points and practical purposes) executed Laufey and nearly destroyed Jotunheim, meaning that they would most certainly slay him if he returned.

Asgard was obviously the less lethal choice. He had placed all of his metaphorical eggs into a single proverbial basket. And, oh, how his choice was so terribly, terribly wrong.

"I could have done it, father! I could have done it! For you! For all of us..."

With one fell swoop, with two carefully chosen words, Odin reasserted what Loki had feared all along. That his father didn't care if he had good intentions or not- that neither mattered as he would never again be accepted as a son of Odin, nor a son of Laufey.

Perhaps Odin didn't realize that what he said would lead to Loki's ultimate conclusion and the action that followed.

Perhaps Odin had thought that what he was saying would make everything right again.

Perhaps Odin had fallen into the terrible error of helpful intentions.


	2. Chapter 2

Was it wrong to assume that he was still innocent? Please say no.

Where had helpful intentions gotten him? Please don't say anything.

Were his assumptions wrong? It could go either way, he thought.

Did he perhaps carry the situation on the Bifrost a little bit too far? Alright, even he would admit to that one.

In his defense, he didn't expect what happened after he let go of the staff. Really.

He expected the end. He had expected to die; to be smashed into oblivion.

That was the main idea when he let go. He wanted to die, because he would be completely without a home otherwise. He would be sentenced (possibly put to death) for his crimes against Asgard. He would be slain on the spot for assassinating Laufey if he returned to Jotunheim. Death was a far easier choice- it was frightfully imminent, anyways. So he let go, and let the Bifrost Void pull him in.

Furthermore, he was pretty sure he WASN'T headed for Valhalla. Almost certain.

Still, that expectation blinded him to other possibilities. He did not foresee what followed.

Landing on the Chitauri world was no-one's idea of a picnic. It most certainly wasn't his.

Loki had to admit- it takes all sorts to make a universe. It was a very distasteful joke- even to him. Still, it was amusing, and he occasionally wondered how he even had a sense of humor left.

Thanos had used him. Understand that. Loki knew what was going to happen to him if he failed to obey Thanos. He had received a tiny taste of Thanos's brutality, and it was more than as much of a helping as he had ever desired to receive.

As the Other had warned him, if he thought he knew pain before, (and quite honestly he thought he HAD) then it would be nothing compared to the consequences of not procuring the Tesseract to the Chitauri.

Admittedly, maybe a little bit of it was Loki fault. The raid on SHIELD for the Tesseract wasn't, by definition his idea, but he had an objective. Also, Life and Death were poised precariously in the balance of the outcome. So, needless to say, he was a little edgy. He didn't show it. He couldn't show it. No one could know.

Save for Thor, anyways, who was always getting Heimdall to poke his nose (eyes and ears, actually) in where it wasn't exactly welcome nor needed. Loki was supposed to take the blame for the invasion. Fortunately for Loki (and unfortunately at the same time; he didn't know quite how that worked, either), although Heimdall could observe him from afar, the blasted Gatekeeper never saw anything IMPORTANT . He never saw Thanos manipulating Loki- only Loki with the Chitauri army. Which was both good and bad- good in that Thanos couldn't accuse him of letting the cat out of the bag, bad in that he was going to take a hard fall for the whole situation.

Loki wanted to tell them. He wanted to be free from Thanos's crushing grip. He wanted to just do what Thor had told him. He wanted to go home, even if it meant facing Asgardian justice. Even that would be better than what Thanos was capable of.

Loki still loved his family. He still cared about them. He promised himself while on the mountaintop that he would even find some way to forgive Odin, and accept Asgard's punishment with dignity and honesty if it meant that he could just be free from Thanos.

Wishful thinking. He had been given strict orders, and was warned yet again by the Other what would happen if he failed; that there was no place in the universe he could hide. That Thanos would always find him, and have vengeance.

Loki lived in a state of constant dread. He didn't like it. Who would?

Loki killed the poor man with the big gun, yes, but... Well. It was complicated. He knew that he couldn't stop the Chitauri. Not without the consequence of certain doom. He also knew that there were earth's mightiest heroes on board the Carrier. That if anyone could stop the army, they could. If anyone could stop Thanos, they could. If anyone could stop Loki Laufeyson, that they could.

Planning both your rise and demise wasn't the traditional thing, he was sure. But this was different. He hated what he was doing, but he was (for all points of argument) powerless to stop it. So he incensed the heroes to do it for him.

That was why Loki manipulated Dr. Banner. Clint Barton. He hoped that at least the archer might forgive him; he did, after all, explain to the man that he knew exactly how it felt to be controlled by the scepter- and that while Barton was under his control. He wondered if Banner ever would. He was almost sure the doctor wouldn't, but then- where had his assumptions gotten him recently?

That was why he did what he did to that poor man with the big gun (whom he later learned was named Phil). He felt very badly about that, by the way. 'Phil' hadn't even seen him coming. Hadn't even the knowledge to turn around. But he did have the right idea. The "You're gonna lose." was actually surprisingly reassuring, considering that it came from a mere Midgardian. Loki sometimes wondered if 'Phil' understood what he was doing. And if the Midgardian did- well then he was much more clever than all of Asgard put together.

That was why Loki threw Stark out of the window. He didn't know about the arc reactor, but he did see the bracelets, and he knew that out a window was a better choice than through the floor. The Hulk would later reaffirm his decision. By the way- getting beaten into the floor a total of five times really had hurt quite a lot.

Thor could be so dull sometimes.

 _"Look at this! Look around you! You think that this madness will end with your rule?"_

No, actually, he had thought that this madness would end up with him getting carted off to the safe haven Asgard, probably in chains. And his plan had been going full tilt. He told Thor he thought so.

 _"It's too late. It's too late to stop it."_

 _Oh, simple one- how much you claim to know me, and how little you truly do!_

Loki had it all planned out. Acted out. Like a play. Possessing no such luck as a rehearsal, with only he possessing the script, and having actors who unintentionally ad-libbed their roles in the great stage of Manhattan.

The play ended well, he had the assurance of knowing, with him on Asgard and the Tesseract out of Thanos's reach.

When he finally woke up from being smashed into the floor, and he crawled to the steps, he was greeted by the world's mightiest heroes. He asked if he could have a drink before being arrested. Because it was all the same to him. No one could know it was HE who stopped the invasion.

That it was Loki (and Phil deserved credit, too, by the way) who brought together

THE AVENGERS


End file.
